Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

E/RES/2021/20View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 19c Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2006–2021

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2021	E/RES/2021/20	Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice	7,104	15%Compare
2015	E/RES/2015/19	Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice	7,296	—
2010	E/RES/2010/18	Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice	—	—
2006	E/RES/2005/15	Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice	—	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Declarations (Text)Rule of Law Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

14 operative paragraphs

Recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft resolution:

Expresses its satisfaction with the results achieved by the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Kyoto, Japan, from 7 to 12 March 2021, which were based on, notwithstanding the situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the participation of a record number of Member States, United Nations entities, other intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and individual experts, and expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for enabling not only in-person but also online participation through the use of a customized online event platform;

Expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the work done in preparation for and follow-up to the Fourteenth Congress, and extends its thanks to the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network for their contribution to the Fourteenth Congress, in particular with regard to the workshops held within the framework of the Congress;

Welcomes with appreciation the initiative of the Government of Japan, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to continue the good practice of the Thirteenth Congress and organize a youth forum prior to the Fourteenth Congress, expresses its appreciation for the recommendations of the Youth Forum, which were brought to the attention of the Fourteenth Congress,² encourages Member States to give due consideration to those recommendations, and invites the host countries of future congresses to consider the holding of similar events;

²Ibid., para. 24 and annex.

Expresses its profound gratitude to the people and Government of Japan for the warm and generous hospitality extended to the participants in the Fourteenth Congress and for the excellent facilities provided for the Congress;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Fourteenth Congress;

Endorses the Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law: Towards the Achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the Fourteenth Congress, as approved by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its thirtieth session and annexed to the present resolution;

Invites Governments to take into consideration the Kyoto Declaration adopted by the Fourteenth Congress when formulating legislation and policy directives and to make every effort, where appropriate, to implement the principles contained therein, in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;

Invites Member States to identify areas covered in the Kyoto Declaration where further tools and training manuals based on international standards and best practices are needed and to submit that information to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice so that it may take that information into account when considering potential areas of future activity of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Welcomes with appreciation the intention of the Government of Japan, and invites all Member States, to work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to ensure appropriate follow-up to the outcome of the Fourteenth Congress, in particular the implementation of the Kyoto Declaration;

Requests the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to review the implementation of the Kyoto Declaration under the standing item on its agenda entitled “Follow-up to the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and preparations for the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”;

Also requests the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in accordance with its mandate, to adopt the appropriate policy and operational measures for the follow-up to the Kyoto Declaration and identify innovative ways to make use of information on progress made in the implementation of the Declaration, invites the Commission to engage with other relevant stakeholders, and, in this regard, requests the Commission to hold intersessional thematic discussions, working in close consultation with Member States on a workplan, to effectively follow up on the Kyoto Declaration through the sharing of information, good practices and lessons learned, subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources;

Requests the Secretary-General to distribute the report of the Fourteenth Congress, including the Kyoto Declaration, to Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, so as to ensure that it is disseminated as widely as possible, and to seek proposals by Member States on other ways and means of ensuring appropriate follow-up to the Kyoto Declaration, for consideration and action by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its thirty-first session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.

Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law: Towards the Achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

We, Heads of State and Government, Ministers and Representatives of Member States,

Assembled at the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Kyoto, Japan, from 7 to 12 March 2021, half a century after the Fourth Congress, held in Kyoto in 1970, at which the international community vowed to coordinate and intensify crime prevention efforts within the context of social and economic development,

Taking stock of the 65-year legacy of the United Nations congresses on crime prevention and criminal justice, their continuing significant role as the largest and most diverse international forums in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice and their achievements in advancing discussions on policy and professional practices and commitments by the international community,

Recalling the Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice into the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and Economic Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels, and Public Participation, adopted by the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,³ in which we reaffirmed the need to integrate crime prevention and criminal justice issues into the wider agenda of the United Nations in order to enhance system-wide coordination,

³General Assembly resolution 70/174, annex.

Recognizing the need to build upon the progress made since the Thirteenth Congress, including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development⁴ and the achievement thereof so far, and the challenges to overcome,

⁴General Assembly resolution 70/1.

Declare the following:

We express deep concern about the negative impact of crime on the rule of law, human rights, socioeconomic development, public health and security, the environment and cultural heritage;

We also express deep concern that crime is becoming increasingly transnational, organized and complex and that criminals are increasingly exploiting new and emerging technologies, including the Internet, to carry out their illicit activities, thus creating unprecedented challenges in preventing and combating existing crimes, as well as new and emerging forms of crime;

We undertake to contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through our efforts in crime prevention and criminal justice, with the firm recognition that sustainable development and the rule of law are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, that crime is an impediment to sustainable development and that achieving sustainable development is an enabling factor for States to effectively prevent and combat crime;

We undertake to promote the rule of law through multidimensional approaches;

We undertake to intensify concerted global efforts to prevent and combat crime by facilitating and strengthening international cooperation in criminal matters;

We draw attention, in view of rapidly changing realities, to the need for timely adaptation and, if the need arises, strengthening of the international legal framework for international cooperation on criminal matters;

We undertake to enhance the capacity of law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions, as central components of the rule of law, and practitioners to effectively prevent and combat crime, and to provide technical assistance in this regard;

We undertake that our law enforcement, criminal justice and other relevant institutions will effectively and appropriately employ new and advanced technologies as tools against crime with adequate and effective safeguards to prevent the misuse and abuse of these technologies in this regard;

We emphasize our primary role and responsibility as States and Governments for defining crime prevention strategies and policies;

We undertake to enhance multidisciplinary efforts to prevent and combat crime through cooperation and coordination between law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions, and other governmental sectors, as well as to support their work, by engaging in and fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships with the private sector, civil society, academia and the scientific community, and with other relevant stakeholders as appropriate;

We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the central role of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as the main policymaking body of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice;

We reaffirm the role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as the leading entity of the United Nations supporting Member States in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice through the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building, as well as through its normative work, research and expertise, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to which we endeavour to provide sufficient, stable and predictable funding, and the role of the Vienna-based intergovernmental forums, including policymaking bodies and their subsidiary bodies, within the United Nations system on crime prevention and criminal justice as a most valuable and global source of knowledge, inputs, guidance and best practices in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice within their respective mandates;

We express grave concern about the situation arising from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its social and economic implications, which have created new opportunities for and transformed the modi operandi of criminals and organized criminal groups in different forms and to different extents, as well as posed challenges to criminal justice in multiple aspects;

We also express grave concern about the vulnerability of prisons, especially in terms of health, safety and security, to the real risk of a rapid spread of the virus in closed settings, which can be further aggravated by long-standing challenges such as prison overcrowding and poor prison conditions;

We commit ourselves to take decisive actions and action-oriented measures to address challenges and remove international impediments posed and aggravated by COVID-19 to crime prevention and criminal justice, including by a multilateral approach and strengthening the resilience of law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions through multilateral cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnership, with special attention to the urgent capacity-building and technical assistance needs of developing countries in this regard, bearing in mind the long-term social and economic implications of the pandemic, including for sustainable development and international cooperation, and recognizing that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit by the impact of the pandemic;

We recognize, in light of the ongoing experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in preparation for any similar future challenges, the need to review criminal justice systems and to make them more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and responsive through promoting digitalization;

We recommit to a multilateral approach in preventing and combating crimes and promoting the rule of law at the local, national, regional and international levels, and reaffirm the central role of the United Nations, including the role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as the leading entity of the United Nations in supporting Member States in this regard;

We strongly reaffirm the responsibility of all States to fully promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to uphold the principle of human dignity, in the impartial administration of justice and throughout all our efforts in preventing and combating crime;

We strongly reaffirm the responsibility of all States to uphold the Charter of the United Nations in its entirety and to fully respect the principles of sovereign equality and the territorial integrity of States and that of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other States throughout all our efforts in preventing and combating crime;

We commit to making full and effective use of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto,⁵ the United Nations Convention against Corruption,⁶ the three international drug control conventions, relevant international conventions and protocols related to counter-terrorism, as parties to those instruments, and other relevant international obligations, including as a basis to facilitate international cooperation;

⁵United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 2225, 2237, 2241 and 2326, No. 39574.

⁶Ibid., vol. 2349, No. 42146.

We therefore endeavour to take the following actions:

Advancing crime prevention

Addressing the causes, including the root causes, of crime

Develop, implement and evaluate crime prevention strategies, including their effectiveness, that address the causes, including the root causes, and risk factors that make different segments of society more vulnerable to crime, and share best practices to strengthen our capacity;

Evidence-based crime prevention

Enhance evidence-based crime prevention strategies through the collection and analysis of data using systematic and coherent criteria, bearing in mind the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes, and evaluate the effectiveness of such strategies;

Improve the quality and availability of data on crime trends, considering the development of statistical indicators, and share such data, on a voluntary basis, to strengthen our capacity to better understand global crime trends and improve the effectiveness of strategies to prevent and combat crime;

Addressing the economic dimension of crime

Develop and implement effective measures to address the economic dimension of crime and deprive criminals and criminal organizations of any illicit gains through, inter alia, identifying, tracing, seizing, confiscating, recovering and returning proceeds of crime, as well as establishing robust domestic frameworks for financial investigations, and to develop strategies to prevent and combat money-laundering and illicit financial flows;

Consider, review and implement efficient measures to regulate the management of seized and confiscated proceeds of crime, bearing in mind the study prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on effective management and disposal of seized and confiscated assets,⁷ with a view to efficiently preserving and managing such proceeds of crime;

⁷Effective Management and Disposal of Seized and Confiscated Assets (Vienna, 2017).

Tailor-made crime prevention strategies

Promote tailor-made crime prevention strategies that take into account local contexts, including by fostering among the general public a culture of lawfulness, cognizant of cultural diversity, based on respect for the rule of law, in order to, inter alia, advance cooperation among stakeholders and the police, promote positive conflict resolution, as well as community-oriented policing in accordance with national legislation, and prevent gang-related and urban crime and all forms of organized crime;

Mainstreaming a gender perspective into crime prevention

Mainstream a gender perspective into crime prevention policies, programmes, legislation and other actions to, inter alia, prevent all forms of gender-related violence, crime and victimization, including gender-related killings, by undertaking an analysis of gender-related specific needs and circumstances, as well as by soliciting contributions from impacted groups;

Prevent and counter domestic violence, and to that end, take effective measures within our domestic legislation, such as ensuring appropriate handling of cases, coordinating the role of welfare and criminal justice institutions and providing a safe environment for victims;

Children and youth in crime prevention

Address the needs and protect the rights of children and youth, with due consideration to their vulnerabilities, to ensure their protection from all forms of crime, violence, abuse and exploitation both online and offline, such as sexual abuse and exploitation of children and trafficking in persons, noting the particular vulnerabilities of children in the context of smuggling of migrants, as well as recruitment by organized criminal groups including gangs, as well as by terrorist groups;

Youth empowerment for crime prevention

Empower youth to become active agents of positive change in their communities to support crime prevention efforts, including by organizing social, educational, cultural, recreational, sports-related youth programmes and youth forums, as well as by using social media platforms and applications and other digital tools to amplify their voice;

Advancing the criminal justice system

Safeguarding victims’ rights and protecting witnesses and reporting persons

Protect the rights and interests of victims of crime and make efforts to assist them at every stage of criminal justice proceedings, giving due attention to the special needs and circumstances of victims, including age, gender-specific and other needs, and disabilities, as well as to the harms caused by crime, including trauma, and endeavour to provide victims with the means that may assist in their recovery, including the possibility to obtain compensation and reparation;

Encourage victims to report crime by providing them with adequate support, including in criminal proceedings, such as effective access to translation services;

Take appropriate measures to provide effective protection for witnesses in criminal proceedings and for reporting persons;

Provide adequate resources and training to practitioners to strengthen their capacity to provide victim-centred assistance and support that take into account the specific needs of victims;

Improving prison conditions

Improve the detention conditions for both pretrial and post-trial detainees and the capacities of prison, correction and other relevant officers in this regard, including by promoting the practical application of relevant provisions of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules),⁸ as well as the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules);⁹

⁸General Assembly resolution 70/175, annex.

⁹General Assembly resolution 65/229, annex.

Take measures to address overcrowding in detention facilities and to improve the overall effectiveness and capacity of the criminal justice system, including by considering the use of alternatives to pretrial detention and custodial sentences, giving due consideration to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules);¹⁰

¹⁰General Assembly resolution 45/110, annex.

Reducing reoffending through rehabilitation and reintegration

Promote a rehabilitative environment in correctional facilities, including through designing and implementing effective treatment programmes based on an individual assessment of the needs and risks of offenders, and provide offenders with access to vocational and technical training and educational programmes to support them to develop the necessary skills for reintegration;

Promote a rehabilitative environment in the community to facilitate the social reintegration of offenders with the active involvement of local communities, giving due regard to the need to protect society and individuals and the rights of victims and offenders;

Promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to reduce reoffending by fostering inter-agency coordination among relevant government authorities, such as employment and social welfare agencies and local governments, as well as public-private partnerships between those authorities and the community, including cooperating employers and community volunteers who support the long-term and social reintegration of offenders;

Raise awareness of the importance of the public acceptance of offenders as members of the community and the significance of community engagement in assisting their long-term and social reintegration;

Promote, where appropriate, cooperation on the transfer of sentenced persons to serve the rest of their sentences in their own countries, conclude bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements in this regard as necessary, taking into consideration the rights of sentenced persons and issues relating to consent, rehabilitation and reintegration, as appropriate, and raise awareness among these prisoners about the availability of such measures;

Facilitate, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic legal frameworks, restorative justice processes at relevant stages in criminal proceedings in order to assist the recovery of victims and the reintegration of offenders, as well as to prevent crime and recidivism, and assess their usefulness in this regard;

Mainstreaming a gender perspective into criminal justice systems

Develop and implement appropriate and effective policies and plans to achieve gender equality and remove impediments to the advancement of women and women’s empowerment in law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions at all levels, and in this regard pledge to take further concrete action to ensure the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action¹¹ and of the outcome documents as adopted at the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly;¹²

¹¹Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.

¹²General Assembly resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.

Mainstream a gender perspective into the criminal justice system by promoting gender-responsive measures that address the gender-specific needs of both offenders and victims, including the protection of women and girls from revictimization in criminal justice proceedings;

Addressing the vulnerabilities of children and youth in contact with the criminal justice system

Establish or strengthen juvenile justice systems or other similar proceedings that address the seriousness of the offending behaviour and the degree of responsibility of juveniles, as well as their vulnerabilities and the causes, including the root causes, and risk factors of their offending behaviour, in order to facilitate their rehabilitation and reintegration, including by promoting the practical application of relevant provisions of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules);¹³

¹³General Assembly resolution 40/33, annex.

Implement, and strengthen as appropriate, measures to assist the rehabilitation and reintegration of children and youth who have been involved in all forms of organized criminal groups including gangs, as well as in terrorist groups, while protecting their rights and giving full recognition to the importance of delivering justice and protecting the safety of victims of these criminal groups and society throughout the implementation of such measures;

Improving criminal investigation processes

Encourage the use and sharing of good practices on legally grounded, evidence-based interviewing methods designed to obtain only voluntary statements, thereby reducing the risk of unlawful, abusive and coercive measures being used during criminal investigation processes, and enable the obtaining of best evidence, thereby improving the legitimacy and quality of criminal investigations, prosecutions and convictions, and the efficient use of resources, as well as continue to welcome the collaboration between practitioners, experts and other relevant stakeholders on the elaboration of a set of international guidelines for non-coercive interviewing methods and procedural safeguards in this regard;

Promoting the rule of law

Access to justice and equal treatment before the law

Ensure equal access to justice and application of the law to all, including vulnerable members of society, regardless of their status, including by taking appropriate measures to ensure treatment with respect and without discrimination or bias of any kind by criminal justice institutions;

Access to legal aid

Take measures to ensure access to timely, effective, adequately resourced and affordable legal aid for those without sufficient means or when the interests of justice so require, and raise awareness of the availability of such aid, including by promoting the practical application of relevant provisions of the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems,¹⁴ United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime tools on ensuring the quality of legal aid services in criminal justice processes and other related tools, by encouraging the development of guidance tools, as well as the collection and sharing of data on access to legal aid, and by developing a specialized network of legal aid providers to exchange information and best practices and to assist each other in carrying out their work;

¹⁴General Assembly resolution 67/187, annex.

National sentencing policies

Promote national sentencing policies, practices or guidelines for the treatment of offenders in which the severity of penalties for offenders is proportionate to the gravity of offences in accordance with national legislation;

Effective, accountable, impartial and inclusive institutions

Ensure the integrity and impartiality of law enforcement and other institutions comprising the criminal justice system, as well as the independence of the judiciary, and ensure the fair, effective, accountable, transparent and appropriate administration and delivery of justice, while taking into consideration the documents¹⁵ noted by relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions;

¹⁵These documents include the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and its complementary document, the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, and the Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process and measures for the effective implementation of the Istanbul Declaration.

Take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other relevant measures to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish all forms of torture and end impunity in this regard, and to prevent other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

Effective anti-corruption efforts

Effectively avail ourselves of existing tools of the international anti-corruption architecture, particularly by implementing the Convention against Corruption and the Organized Crime Convention, and other relevant tools where applicable;

Develop, adequately resource and implement effective policies and measures, including by, inter alia, enhancing the collection and assessment of data to analyse corruption and strengthening the integrity, transparency and accountability of public institutions, in order to prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate corruption in a holistic manner for ending impunity;

Ensure the use of appropriate measures to effectively disrupt the existing links between organized criminal groups and corruption, including by preventing and combating bribery and the laundering of proceeds of crime into the legitimate economy, and thus develop strategies to prevent and combat illicit financial flows;

Provide protection against any unjustified treatment for any persons who report acts of corruption in good faith and on reasonable grounds to the competent authorities, and thereby promote the reporting of corruption;

Investigate, prosecute and punish threats and acts of violence, falling within their jurisdiction, committed against journalists and media workers, whose professional duties put them at specific risk of intimidation, harassment and violence through the conduct of impartial, efficient and effective investigations, in particular in the context of fighting corruption and organized criminal activities, including in conflict and post-conflict situations, with a view to ending impunity for crimes committed against them, in accordance with national legislation and applicable international law;

Increase public awareness of means for reporting instances of corruption, including by disseminating information regarding the responsibilities and rights of reporting persons, including available measures for their protection;

Social, educational and other measures

Provide access to quality education and promote awareness-raising activities regarding law and policies, including public law-related education for all, to equip the public with the values, skills and knowledge necessary to foster among the general public a culture of lawfulness, cognizant of cultural diversity, based on respect for the rule of law;

Promoting international cooperation and technical assistance to prevent and address all forms of crime

International cooperation, including through capacity-building and technical assistance

Actively participate in and contribute to the recently launched Mechanism for the Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, as well as the Mechanism for the Review of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in order to assist States parties in the implementation of those instruments, identify and substantiate specific needs for technical assistance, share best practices and promote effective international cooperation;

Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of central authorities and other competent authorities responsible for facilitating international cooperation such as mutual legal assistance and extradition, including by providing adequate human and material resources, expertise and tools such as modern communications and case-management tools, enhancing capacity-building and technical assistance programmes and updating and disseminating tools such as the Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime knowledge management portal, the Mutual Legal Assistance Request Writer Tool and the Directory of Competent National Authorities, with the cooperation and coordination of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Strengthen effective international cooperation in criminal matters, including in the areas of extradition and mutual legal assistance, while effectively addressing existing challenges and difficulties, especially with regard to requests, and promoting good practices, facilitate the use of existing regional and international instruments, including the Convention against Corruption and the Organized Crime Convention, as a legal basis for extradition and mutual legal assistance cooperation, and implement and conclude, as necessary, agreements or arrangements to enhance international cooperation in this regard;

Establish or strengthen regional and cross-regional cooperation networks of law enforcement and other criminal justice practitioners to exchange information and best practices with a view to, inter alia, building trust among them and further facilitating international cooperation;

Facilitate the formal and, to the extent permitted under domestic law, non-formal exchange of information and communication necessary to prevent and combat crime, including through the support of intergovernmental organizations such as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL);

Continue to enhance international cooperation through technical assistance and capacity-building, including with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and build upon ongoing initiatives and good practices such as the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration;

Promote, facilitate and support the widest measures of technical assistance, including material support and training, with a view to enabling law enforcement authorities and criminal justice institutions to effectively prevent and combat crimes, taking into account the specific challenges faced by and the particular needs of developing countries;

Recognize the fundamental role of effective international cooperation in preventing and combating crime and to this end, underline the importance of addressing, tackling and effectively responding to international challenges and barriers, in particular measures, that hinder such cooperation, and which are not consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and obligations under international law, and in this regard urge States, consistent with their international obligations, to refrain from applying such measures;

International cooperation to deprive criminals of their proceeds of crime

Strengthen international cooperation and assistance regarding the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of proceeds or other property and instrumentalities of crime and their disposal including by return, including in accordance with all the relevant provisions and principles of the Organized Crime Convention and the Convention against Corruption, and where appropriate, give special consideration to concluding agreements or mutually acceptable arrangements in this regard, on a case-by-case basis, for the return and final disposal of confiscated property pursuant to article 57, paragraph 5, of the Convention against Corruption, as well as due consideration to agreeing to measures to enhance transparency and accountability, recognizing that, consistent with article 4 of the Convention, States cannot unilaterally impose terms in this regard;

When resolving corruption-related cases that make use of alternative legal mechanisms and non-trial resolution including settlements, that have proceeds of crime for confiscation and return, make use of assistance from affected States, where appropriate and consistent with domestic law, in order to enhance international cooperation, information- and evidence-sharing and the recovery of proceeds of crime in accordance with the Convention against Corruption and domestic law;

Recognize asset recovery as an important element of crime prevention and criminal justice, particularly in cases involving corruption, and in that regard strengthen political will while safeguarding due process;

Encourage States to remove barriers and overcome obstacles to applying measures for the recovery of assets, in particular by simplifying their legal procedures, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, taking into consideration the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the use of returned assets in accordance with domestic laws and in line with domestic priorities, and bearing in mind that strengthening the recovery of stolen assets and their return will support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

Implement the measures necessary to obtain and share reliable information on beneficial ownership of companies, legal structures or other complex legal mechanisms, thus facilitating the investigation process and the execution of mutual legal assistance requests;

Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations

Strengthen cooperation at the international, regional and subregional levels to prevent and combat all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including by strengthening the rule of law at all levels and by ensuring the implementation by parties of the relevant international conventions and protocols related to counter-terrorism and by formulating strategies aimed at effectively addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism including violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, while recognizing that nothing can justify acts of terrorism, and implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy¹⁶ in all its aspects at the international, subregional and national levels without delay, including by mobilizing resources and expertise;

¹⁶General Assembly resolution 60/288.

Ensure more effective actions against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever and by whomsoever committed, in particular investigations and prosecutions supported by credible and verifiable information and evidence, and to this end improve the collection, handling and preservation of relevant information and evidence, and consider participating in information- and evidence-sharing networks as appropriate;

Identify, analyse and counter any existing, growing or potential links, in some cases, between the financing of terrorism and transnational organized crime, illicit drug-related activities, money-laundering, kidnapping and hostage-taking with the aim of raising funds including by demands for ransom, and extortion, to prevent and tackle financial and logistical support to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons, in compliance with obligations under applicable international law;

Address the growing threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, including through the implementation of applicable international obligations, and underline the importance of United Nations capacity-building and facilitation of capacity-building in accordance with existing mandates to assist States, including those in the most-affected regions, upon their request;

Improve the security and resilience of critical infrastructure and the protection of particularly vulnerable “soft targets”, including through increased information-sharing among law enforcement, the private sector and the public;

Take appropriate measures to prevent and combat incitement to commit a terrorist attack and the spread of such terrorist propaganda, and expressing alarm at the glorification of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations;

New, emerging and evolving forms of crime

Strengthen measures to address new, emerging and evolving forms of crime, including by making maximum use of the relevant and applicable conventions, such as the Organized Crime Convention and the Protocols thereto through the measures contained therein, to prevent and combat crimes, facilitate international cooperation and confiscate and return the proceeds of crime;

Examine trends and the evolution of methods employed in the conduct of crime to develop effective means of international cooperation and technical assistance, including through enhanced information-sharing and an exchange of views, experiences and best practices within the framework of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and other relevant global and regional forums;

Strengthen efforts to prevent, counter and combat trafficking in persons, including by supporting data collection and sharing as appropriate, through relevant technical assistance by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, addressing factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking, detecting and dismantling trafficking networks, including in supply chains, discouraging demand that fosters exploitation leading to trafficking, ending impunity of trafficking networks, conducting financial investigations and using special investigative techniques under the conditions prescribed by domestic law, and protecting victims of trafficking in persons;

Adopt and implement effective measures to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants and protect the lives and the human rights of migrants, consistent with the respective obligations of parties under the Organized Crime Convention and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the Convention¹⁷ and all other relevant international obligations, especially on human rights, strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation in this regard, in particular to tackle, including through the concurrent undertaking of financial investigations and special investigative techniques, the increasing role of transnational and national organized criminal groups profiting from such crime and other crimes against migrants, and underscore to make every possible effort to prevent further casualties and loss of lives;

¹⁷United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2241, No. 39574.

Foster global, regional and bilateral cooperation to prevent criminals and criminal organizations from accessing firearms, and strengthen mechanisms and strategies for border control for preventing and combating illicit trafficking in and diversion of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, including online trade, and the illicit reactivation of deactivated firearms;

Enhance cooperation to address and counter threats related to technological developments and changing modi operandi with regard to the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition and investigate and prosecute these crimes, including by ensuring law enforcement cooperation, as well as the systematic tracing of seized arms;

Effectively address and counter the world drug problem, which requires concerted and sustained action at the national, regional and international levels, including accelerating the implementation of existing drug policy commitments, through a comprehensive and balanced approach and based on the principle of common and shared responsibility;

Take more effective measures to prevent and end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children, including child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse online and offline, by criminalizing such acts, supporting victims and fostering international cooperation to combat these crimes;

Adopt effective measures to prevent and combat crimes that affect the environment, such as illicit trafficking in wildlife, including, inter alia, flora and fauna as protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,¹⁸ in timber and timber products, in hazardous wastes and other wastes and in precious metals, stones and other minerals, as well as, inter alia, poaching, by making the best possible use of relevant international instruments and by strengthening legislation, international cooperation, capacity-building, criminal justice responses and law enforcement efforts aimed at, inter alia, dealing with transnational organized crime, corruption and money-laundering linked to such crimes, and illicit financial flows derived from such crimes, while acknowledging the need to deprive criminals of proceeds of crime;

¹⁸Ibid., vol. 993, No. 14537.

Encourage data collection and research on the manufacturing of and trafficking in falsified medical products, while recognizing, within its scope of application, the definition of falsified medical products endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2017, and, taking this into account, strengthen, as appropriate, measures to respond to the manufacturing of and trafficking in falsified medical products;

Strengthen national and international responses to trafficking in cultural property and other crimes targeting cultural property, and any links to the financing of organized crime and terrorism, and enhance international cooperation in this regard, including through appropriate channels, the return or restitution of such illicitly trafficked cultural properties to countries of origin, taking into consideration existing instruments such as the Organized Crime Convention, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,¹⁹ the International Guidelines for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses with Respect to Trafficking in Cultural Property and Other Related Offences,²⁰ and other relevant instruments, and with a view to considering all possible options to make effective use of the applicable international legal framework to combat crimes against cultural property, and considering any proposals to supplement the existing framework for international cooperation, as necessary;

¹⁹Ibid., vol. 823, No. 11806.

²⁰General Assembly resolution 69/196, annex.

Undertake efforts to better understand the smuggling of commercial goods with a view to strengthening our responses, in accordance with national law, to this type of crime and its possible linkages with corruption and other crimes;

Develop effective strategies, including by enhancing the capacity of criminal justice professionals, to prevent, investigate and prosecute hate crimes, as well as engage effectively with victims and victim communities to build public trust when engaging with law enforcement to report such crimes;

Strengthen measures to address the threat of other new, emerging and evolving forms of crime, as well as their possible links with organized criminal groups as a source of lucrative profits for their illicit activities;

Enhance coordination and international cooperation to effectively prevent and combat the growing threat of cybercrime;

Promote the appropriate utilization of technology by law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions through providing technical assistance upon request, capacity-building and necessary training, as well as improving legislation, regulations and policies so that they are adaptable to continuous technological developments;

Promote, at the national, regional and international levels, with due respect for domestic legal frameworks and the principles of international law, public-private partnerships with the digital industry, the financial sector and communication service providers to enhance international cooperation to combat cybercrime;

In order to ensure appropriate follow-up to this declaration and to our commitments:

We call upon the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in accordance with its mandate, to adopt the appropriate policy and operational measures for the follow-up to this declaration and to identify innovative ways to make use of information on progress made in the implementation of this declaration, and invite the Commission to engage with other relevant stakeholders, including the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, in order to strengthen global partnership in advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda;

We express our profound gratitude to the people and Government of Japan for their warm and generous hospitality and for the excellent facilities provided for the Fourteenth Congress.

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